2026 FIFA World Cup Group F
FIFA World Cup group
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Group F of the 2026 FIFA World Cup took place from June 14 to 25, 2026.[1] The group consisted of the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, and Tunisia.
The Netherlands topped the group with two group game victories. Japan would finish as runners-up, with one win and two draws. Both teams advanced to the round of 32.
Sweden finished in third place, and their performance allowed them to advance as one of the eight best third-place teams.[2] Tunisia were eliminated after losing their first two group games, and would go on to lose their third.
Teams
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings[3][4] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2025[nb 1] | June 2026 | |||||||||
| F1 |  Netherlands | 1 | UEFA | UEFA Group G winner | November 17, 2025 | 12th | 2022 | Runner-up (1974, 1978, 2010) | 7 | 8 |
| F2 |  Japan | 2 | AFC | AFC third round Group C winner | March 20, 2025 | 8th | 2022 | Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018, 2022) | 18 | 18 |
| F3 |  Sweden | 4[nb 2] | UEFA | UEFA second round Path B winner | March 31, 2026 | 13th | 2018 | Runner-up (1958) | 43[nb 2] | 38 |
| F4 |  Tunisia | 3 | CAF | CAF Group H winner | September 8, 2025 | 7th | 2022 | Group stage (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022) | 40 | 45 |
Notes
- The rankings of November 2025 were used for seeding for the final draw.[5]
- As the identity of the UEFA second round Path B winner was not known at the time of the final draw, positions in the FIFA Rankings were not taken into account, and the placeholder in the draw was automatically seeded into pot 4.[5]
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netherlands |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Japan |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 5 | |
| 3 | Sweden |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Tunisia |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 0 |
In the round of 32:[2]
- The winner of Group F, the Netherlands, advanced to play the runner-up of Group C, Morocco.
- The runner-up of Group F, Japan, advanced to play the winner of Group C, Brazil.
- The third-place team of Group F, Sweden, advanced to play the winner of Group I, France, as one of the eight best third-place teams from the group stage.
Matches
All times listed are local.[1]
Netherlands vs Japan
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The teams had met three times prior, including the Netherlands' 1–0 group stage victory at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[6] Their most recent meeting took place in 2013, a 2–2 friendly draw.[7]
Coincidentally, both teams finished with a 2–2 draw in their opening match, with Virgil van Dijk being named as Man of the Match.
| Netherlands | 2–2 | Japan |
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[Report 1] |
         Netherlands[8]
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     Japan[8]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[8]
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Sweden vs Tunisia
The teams had met on four previous occasions, always in friendlies. Tunisia won the most recent meeting in 2003, by 1–0.[10]
The fixture marked Sweden's return to a major tournament after five years, having failed to qualify for both the 2022 World Cup and UEFA Euro 2024. Additionally, Sweden's five goals were the second-most the team has ever scored in a single World Cup match, behind only their 8–0 victory over Cuba in 1938.[11]
After the match, Tunisia manager Sabri Lamouchi was relieved from his managing duties. It was the first time that a manager was sacked during the FIFA World Cup since the 1998 edition when Tunisia’s then manager Henryk Kasperczak and his side lost its first two group stage matches 2–0 to England and 1–0 to Colombia respectively.[12] Additionally, Carlos Alberto Parreira, who was managing Saudi Arabia, and Cha Bum-kun, who was managing South Korea, both in the same tournament, were also terminated after their first two matches as well.
     Sweden[13]
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    Tunisia[13]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[13]
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Netherlands vs Sweden
The teams had met on 25 previous occasions, including a scoreless draw during the group stage at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, and most recently in a 2–0 win for the Netherlands in a World Cup Qualifier match in 2017.[14]
Brian Brobbey scored in the fifth and seventeenth minute, the fourth-fastest brace in World Cup history.[15] The fixture was Sweden's worst defeat at the World Cup since being thrashed 7–1 by Brazil in 1950, which also remains Brazil's biggest win in a tournament match. The win set a new record for the longest unbeaten run in World Cup history, with fourteen matches (from the 2014 World Cup), surpassing the previous record by Brazil.[16]
| Netherlands | 5–1 | Sweden |
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[Report 3] |
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 Netherlands[17]
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     Sweden[17]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[17]
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Tunisia vs Japan
The teams have previously met six times, including Japan's 2–0 group stage victory at the 2002 FIFA World Cup (which they co-hosted with South Korea). Their latest meeting took place in the 2023 Kirin Challenge Cup, which Japan also won by 2–0.[18]
This fixture was the 1,000th World Cup match, with the previous milestone (900th) having been reached in the 2018 FIFA World Cup final.[19][20]
With Tunisia losing their match, they became the third team to be eliminated from the tournament, following Haiti and Turkey, after losing two consecutive matches. Additionally, Tunisia became the sole African team to be eliminated from the group stage.
    Tunisia[21]
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 Japan[21]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[21]
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Japan vs Sweden
The teams had met five times, with Japan's only win from the notorious match in the 1936 Olympics in the first round. Their most recent meeting, a friendly in 2002, ended in a 1–1 draw.[22]
In the 56th minute, Japan took the lead when Daizen Maeda scored with a low shot after running onto a pass from Ritsu Dōan in the penalty area. Anthony Elanga equalised in the 62nd minute when he curled into the net from out on the right edge of the penalty area, low into the left corner of the net. The draw was enough for Japan to finish in second place in the group.[23]
| Japan | 1–1 | Sweden |
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[Report 5] |
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 Japan[24]
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Sweden[24]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[24]
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Tunisia vs Netherlands
The teams had previously faced each other thrice, most recently in a 2009 friendly match that ended in a 1–1 draw.[25]
With Tunisia already eliminated, they were off to a very shaky start. Ellyes Skhiri committed a costly own goal in the third minute, which allowed the formidable Dutch team to stretch the lead. Brian Brobbey would follow with a shot four minutes later. On the second half, Tunisia's sole goal was made by Hazem Mastouri on the 53rd minute, while it was Jan Paul van Hecke who sealed the Netherlands' top spot in the group stage.
With 13 overall losses in World Cup history, this was Tunisia's worst performance in the tournament to date, as they finished without a point despite having won matches in their last two appearances in 2018 and 2022. This stood in stark contrast to their qualifying campaign, where they became the first African team to reach the tournament without conceding a single goal.
| Tunisia | 1–3 | Netherlands |
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[Report 6] |
Tunisia[26]
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Netherlands[26]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[26]
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Discipline
The team conduct ("fair play") score would have been used as a tiebreaker if the head-to-head and overall records of teams were tied. It would also be used as a tiebreaker for the third-place ranking between groups if the overall records of teams were tied. The score was calculated based on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches as follows:[2]
- yellow card: −1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- direct red card: −4 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Only one of the above deductions could be applied to a player or team official in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Score | |||||||||
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| Japan |
1 | −1 | |||||||||||
| Tunisia |
1 | −1 | |||||||||||
| Netherlands |
3 | −3 | |||||||||||
| Sweden |
3 | 2 | −5 | ||||||||||